Racism and interracial couples in U.S.

[Asher]

It was true for me and I doubt that I'm the only one. I unexpectedly came across variations in the ratios of immunoglobulin sub-types when I was studying gonorrhea that allowed me to segregate African-Americans from others. This was around the time that the Prof in Scotland was being piloried for merely suggesting that the differences in IQ might be determined genetically. Given the political climate we didnt publish it, so its fallen by the wayside (for now at least). It may, or may not, be relevant to higher incidences of some diseases in African-Americans but we may never know. Thats the problem. Sometimes it's the small unexpected findings that become important once published.

I've also seen in many medical journals, authors of good epidemiological studies of diseases that are more prevelant in African-Americans viciously attacked as racist.

OTOH if one flys 'beneath the radar' and minimizes the 'race' issue there is research money for studying diseases that are more prevelant in African-Americans.

What are the ethics behind finding interesting and medically-relevant results and then not publishing them on account of being *****?

[KrazyHorse]

I doubt he could read the articles but nevertheless just the possibility has a chilling effect IMO. It doesnt take too much racial controversy for university boards of enquiry (ie witchunts) to start lighting their fires.

Well, this is what tenure was invented for. And why unis should be extending tenure instead of arranging it so that the only people with tenure are those no longer doing active research.

[Ben Kenobi]

Hera, unlike in Euroland, people in NA don't like it when gov't bureaucrats (paid by the public!) are allowed to act capriciously in the exercise of their office. It's not up to him to decide that interracial marriage is a bad idea any more than it's up to the human resources guy at town hall to decide that he's not going hire black people because he thinks they're lazy.

Then why is he necessary if he's just a rubber stamp? I disagree with his opinion on interracial marriage, but so long as the couple is permitted to get married through a different JP, I do not see the problem. People have conscience rights, even to opinions others may consider offensive.

[Ben Kenobi]

That's the very definition, off course people of all races can be racist. But how you used this makes no sense.

The issues in this case are not just how white people treat black people, but how black people treat white people. It's not enough to simply "blame whitey".

[Solomwi]

Are you from down that way, Solomwi? Forgive me for already not knowing.

I'm from Alabama, not Louisiana, but I've dealt with similar people in official positions. One mayor of a small town we were representing on a worker's comp case was telling me a few months ago what a fine man our judge's father, a judge himself, had been. The one example he used was a mixed race couple that went to the judge's father to get married, "and he pointed to the Bible on his desk and told them that book says I can't marry y'all so I ain't going to do it." I had trouble wrapping my head around just how many levels that bothered me on. Now, the mayor didn't tell me when that happened, and I suspect it was a few decades ago, but he was still very impressed by it here in 2009. My only point with that story is that there are still plenty of people sitting in government positions that still think "I got no problem with the blacks, but they don't need to be marrying whites" is a perfectly fine and innocent position to take.

[Solomwi]

A little from column A, a little from column B...

Yep, and there are probably a few more columns contributing (assuming you're talking about why the JP might be so baldly assertive).

[Heraclitus]

I doubt he could read the articles but nevertheless just the possibility has a chilling effect IMO. It doesnt take too much racial controversy for university boards of enquiry (ie witchunts) to start lighting their fires.

The whole situation reminds me of Lysenkoism.

[MrFun]

I guess this justice of peace had opposed racial desegregation back in 60s because government-enforced desegregation would have exposed black kids to bullying and other negative experiences.

Apparently, he has arbitrarily decided that interracial kids will never be able to grow up to become healthy, productive, functioning adults in today's society even given the complexity of their ethnic/racial identity.

[MrFun]

By the way, Spencer and Slowwy - my intent with posting this thread was not to make any ridiculous claim that racism only exists in the South. Unlike some white Southerners (cough, cough), I'm objective enough to recognize and acknowledge racism as it exists in my own home region - the North or Midwest.

[chequita guevara]

In my experience, interracial couples are more prevalent in the South than the North, and attitudes towards us are much less racist than up North.

That said, my experience was atypical because I as living in a navy town, and the military, for all its faults, has integrated the races in such a way that interracial relationships are very common. (In South Florida, it's even more common, though there's little military presence.)

As a Black person, however, my wife experienced a lot of racism when she was by herself. The South is not worse than the North, but it isn't better. It's different. The racism in the North is more overt, more in your face. Southern racism, except for the knuckleheads, tends to be more smile in your face as you're sticking the knife in your guts type.